


Living as Human

by CatChan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AlphaWolf!Steve, Brother Bear AU, Except with wolves, M/M, Magic, Shaman!Tony, Some Avengers are animals, Spirits, Wolf Hierarchy Dynamics, Wolf to Human transformation, wolf!Bucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 05:22:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4126819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatChan/pseuds/CatChan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His plan was overly simple, but he didn't have the will to find something more elaborate. He would just run in a straight line until he met running water, then follow it upstream, to the Spirit-Mountain, up high enough for it not to be anything to hunt when he got hungry.</p><p>Finally, he would be able to starve himself to death, like he had wished he could for all the moons he had spent at the mercy of these Humans-Who-Use-Strange-Disgusting-And-Unnatural-Magic. These damned Humans who had locked him in a cage without food for days on end, then released him to kill other Animals or Humans, using their magic to focus his hunger on their prey and force him to kill and eat them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wolf before Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Made on the [unanswered prompt](http://imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/post/120864098731/imagine-tony-spending-days-nearly-a-week-in-the) from the awesome Imagine Tony And Bucky tumblr (that I stalk dutifully):  
> Brother Bear-esque AU? Just because I watched it today and it would be awesome if you could make I work somehow :) - Anonymous
> 
> This will be multi-chapter because I like the dynamics better this way (and because after a week of writing, I reached a good place to stop the chapter.

The Wolf-That-Once-Used-To-Refer-To-Himself as Bucky was running as fast as that damned wooden thing the Humans-Who-Whorship-The-Hydre had attached to the leftover bone behind his left front paw's shoulder would let him. Which was not all that fast.

 

He once again considered gnawing the Offending-Thing off, he would prefer going three-legged than this, but he didn't have the time, so he just breathed faster and bore with the pain each thump rattled up his abused bone. He would take care of this once he as safely out of Alpha-Once-A-Friend-Steve's tracking range.

 

His plan was overly simple, but he didn't have the will to find something more elaborate. He would just run in a straight line until he met running water, then follow it upstream, to the Spirit-Mountain, up high enough for it not to be anything to hunt when he got hungry.

 

Finally, he would be able to starve himself to death, like he had wished he could for all the moons he had spent at the mercy of these Humans-Who-Use-Strange-Disgusting-And-Unnatural-Magic. These damned Humans who had locked him in a cage without food for days on end, then released him to kill other Animals or Humans, using their Magic to focus his hunger on their prey and force him to kill and eat them.

 

They had finally made a mistake by pointing him to the Blonde-Wolf-With-Blue-Eyes that had attacked them, ridden by the Little-Human-Girl the Wolf had made a huge ruckus about a year before so She could take advantage of his Captor's distraction and run away before he was made to kill her.

 

The Wolf hadn't been able to avoid batting the Falcon to the ground, but when Steve had faced him, the Wolf had finally been able to let his former Alpha's authority break the Humans' control.

 

They hadn't been able to kill all the Evil-Bad-Hydra-Humans, but when Little-Human-Girl had taken the Red-Winged-Falcon from the ground and hopped on Steve's back again, the Wolf-Who-Used-To-Be-Bucky had followed his Best-Friend-And-Alpha-Steve back into the woods, covering his back as he had always done up to the Fall.

 

oOOo

 

And then, Steve had told him how he had left the pack in Fierce-Alpha-Female-Peggy's care, and given her leave to chose a new Lover who would then be the Howling-Pack's new Alpha, so he wouldn't endanger them in his reckless hunt for Former-Friend-And-Beta-Wolf-Bucky. And that had hurt so bad, Not-Alpha-Anymore-Steve, leaving his rightful place to make up for his mistake, that he had only half listened to the tale of the Humans-And-Animals-Who-Helped-Steve.

 

The tale of the Tribe-With-One-Who-Spoke-To-Animals and how he had made the Awful-Unstealthy-Blue-White-Red-Harness for Little-Human-Girl-Natasha to be able to ride on his back and a Totem-So-They-Could-Talk-Together. Or how Steve had met Red-Winged-Falcon-Sam whose Brother-Falcon-Riley got killed by the Bad-Hydra-Humans.

 

There was more, something about Human-Boy-Archer, Moody-magically-Growing-Snake-Bruce, Lion-Thor, his Mind-Brother-Jaguar-Loki, whom the had fought to protect the Tribe-Humans-Of-The-Shield... But Wolf-Who-Once-Had-Been-Bucky had been too busy planning his Escape-So-Steve-Would-Stop-Being-Burdened-By-Him to really listen.

 

As soon as Idiot-Mind-Brother-Steve had gone to hunt so Still-Not-Really-Bucky-Anymore could eat, the Wolf had jumped on Girl-Natasha's tent so it would collapse on her and Thankfully-Still-Not-Able-To-Fly-Falcon-Sam, and he had started to run on the direction where he could see the most leaves and rocks to hide his track from Too-Observant-Human-Girl-Natasha.

 

When Idiot-Steve came back from his hunt, he would be able to track the Wolf's scent, but as the Wolf came to the top of a cliff, he knew he didn't have to worry about that and jumped in the water down bellow. The Streaming-Water would hide his scent to Steve's nose.

 

Water also was great because he could swim with his three working paws without hurting Broken-In-The-Fall-And-Replaced-By-The-Bad-Hydra-Humans-Paw, he didn't even have to strain his Shoulder-Muscles to keep the Bad-Hurting-Wood-Leg up and off the ground as it floated on it's own.

 

When he thought he was far enough, the Wolf found a Tree-That-Hides-From-The-Sky close enough to the river in case Nice-Forgiving-Falcon-Sam recovered faster than he had thought, and flew over in his search; and set to work breaking the False-Hurting-Wood-Thing with his teeth. He almost decided to bite the bone so he would have no Nasty-Hydra-Thing attached to him any-more, but then he would bleed out and it would make him easier to track and it could kill him while he was in the water where Steve could find his washed-down body and be Sad.

 

The Wolf didn't want Brother-Steve to be Sad, even if he may not go back to the Howling-Pack without being sure that his Beta-Bucky was really dead.

 

Shaking his doubts, the Wolf took Now-Detached-Evil-Wood-Leg in his maw and swam to the middle of the stream to let it go. Hopefully, it would float further down than the place Wolf had jumped in before it beached on a shore of the stream, and lead Sometimes-A-Nitwit-Steve in the wrong direction.

 

oOOo

 

He walked and swam for a full day before his resolve weakened, letting the part of him that was too instinctive and stubborn to die, the same part that had made him the Howlie's Beta, Steve's Second-In-Commend, forced him to hunt.

 

He had already been starving before Steve rescued him from the Bad-Humans-Tribe. He could still go longer without eating, he was a Wolf, and used to it, after all, but that had it's downsides too. He was already weak and depleted from the cycles of starvation, he had no fat or muscles left to consume that he didn't need just for standing and walking, and only having three legs to use, he needed more energy to move than he used to. He didn't regret getting rid of the Awful-Thing, though. Never.

 

He had enough will to only follow the stream, to avoid straying in the wood to hunt a Rabbit or something. He was sure he would not be able to choke Bloody-Rabbit-Meat down even if he managed to catch one in his sorry state.

 

What he found himself unable of doing was ignore this Fat-Fish gliding down, seemingly set to swim right between his legs. Wolf was not a Bear to catch Fishes out of a river with his paws, and even if he had been able to, the single front paw would have undermined this project greatly.

 

As things stood, he used the same tactic he would have used for a Rabbit and just lunged forth, maw open. The Salmon-Fish sensed the attack and made a sharp turn, leaving the Wolf's mouth empty, but with a quick sideways jump and roll on his back, he still caught it before it could swim away. The landing had rattled the splintered remains of the Wood-Thing, pressing it in his flesh and bone when he'd lost the habit of this constant hurting, so Wolf clamped his fangs harder than necessary in pain, opening the soft flesh and dripping blood on his tongue.

 

He froze, waiting for the disgust and flashbacks to set in. The blood ran down his throat, waking nothing more than hunger. Fish blood, as it turned out, tasted different than Warm-Blooded-Prey's and the Bad-Hydra-Tribe had never made him kill Fishes.

 

Before the Fall, he might have tried to catch a Fish to play, and to prove he could, and he would have tasted it because Wolves didn't kill something they wouldn't eat, but he would have left the body on the shore for other animals to eat after a single bite, this taste would have displeased him, and healthy and living in a prosperous pack, he would have decided to hunt something else, not even believing he was taking any risk of ending the day with an empty stomach.

 

On that day, alone, starved half to death and crouching on three wobbly legs, he drank all the blood running from the Fish's fleshes, clambered closer to the shore and proceeded to scarf down every single bit the prey had to offer.

 

Things had changed.

 

oOOo

 

For all he had planned to starve, Wolf found himself watching the waters with his hunter's eyes and lunging for every Fish that passed close enough. He didn't even catch a third of them, but he still found himself gaining some muscles and much-needed fat again. When he noticed that he had taken a whole day to go a single hour of walk forward, he understood that he didn't really want to die, after all. He just hadn't wanted to eat anything that reminded him of Bad-Humans.

 

He could eat Fish and it gave him strength. Not as much as red meat had used to, but a lot more than eating nothing would have.

 

Wolves don't fight against their own perceptions, if he wanted to live, then he would point his strength and will in that direction, same as he had done when he had thought he wanted to die. He continued upstream. The Spirit-Mountain was the goal he had set, and even as he didn't seek death anymore, he still thought it would be interesting to go there, maybe stay the nigh to watch the Shifting-Lights from closer up.

 

oOOo

 

A month after his hasty depart, he finally found himself sitting on top of the Mountain. He could see clearly the cliff he had jumped from. The trip would have taken him a week at most if he had been running. Even in his state.

 

The last part of his trip had been faster, once the waters stopped brimming with Fishes, he'd started to run. No sense making his fast longer than he had to. Without hunting and without taking his usual caution against Steve's senses and stubbornness; as he really believed Alpha-Steve was hard-headed enough to run all his way up the stream, then down again sniffing for a clue of where Wolf was; he had climbed to the top in half a day.

 

With a sigh, he lowered himself down, mindful of the tip of his bad leg. He considered once again biting the tip of the bone off and finally letting his body to properly scar and seal his leg, so he wouldn't need to take extra caution not to touch anything with the Broken-Remains-Of-The-Thing-That-Was-Forced-On-Him, but he restrained himself once again.

 

Sure, he was strong again now and probably wouldn't die from the bleed-out, and he still wanted this last memory of his captivity in Bad-Tribe-Hydra gone, but this could wait a bit longer. And he instinctively hated the thought of spilling Blood in this Place that was sacred to Wolves and all the other Creatures living around it. That was without even thinking of the fact that it would force him to taste his own Blood. Warm-Blooded-Creature-Blood. Wolf-Blood.

 

And no. No, he definitely didn't want to taste Wolf-Blood again.

 

He had before the Fall, of course, he had fought Brooklyn-Pack's petty Wolves who wanted to hurt Then-Small-And-Ostracized-Steve. He had bitten and clawed at Wolves both when he was still in Alpha-York's Pack and after splitting from it to be Steve's-Beta-Bucky.

 

He had tasted Wolf-Blood before the Fall. But if he tasted it again, it would be of Poor-Weak-Injured-Puppy that he would be reminded.

 

He was so busy trying not to think about the Pup that he didn't hear the steps. In fact, he didn't even hear the voice, but he felt as if there was something moving before his eyes. Not in the scenery, but he felt as if he was seeing another Wolf, holding himself in a I-Don't-Want-To-Be-Threatening-You-I-Want-To-Be-Friend-Would-You-Hunt-By-My-Side way. Which was a strange thing to be feeling when he didn't actually see a Wolf at all, just it's body-language.

 

A sniff explained the disjointed perceptions. There was Magic.

 

He was on his legs, growling at the source of it before he could parse the fact that this Magic distinctly smelled of Fur-Wood-Smoke-Thunder-Iron, not of Blood-Rot-Vomit-And-Something-Else-That-Was-Worse like Hydra-Shaman-Magic had.

 

When the realization that this magic came from a Good-Nature-Respectful-Human-Tribe-Shaman finally hit, he righted himself, sat flattening his ears a bit in guilt and apology and gave a little resentful half-Growl to let Good-Human-Shaman know that he wasn't really angry at him, but that it was not okay to just use Magic on him, especially without warning.

 

The Human-Shaman said something, and Wolf had the impression of Seeing-Not-Seeing something again. This time, it was a Puppy's kind of Sorry-I-Did-Bad-I-Won't-Do-It-Again Dance. He also Heard-Not-Heard a small Contrite-Whine to go with it.

 

Wolf Growled at the Human. First because he'd just done it again while promising not to, and second, because a Pup doing that actually meant Sorry-I-Won't-Do-It-Again-While-You-Can-See, no matter what they actually tried to project.

 

The Human-Shaman blinked and grumbled something, looking at the sky. Bucky felt Magic coil around him, then waft past him with it's Fur-Wood-Smoke-Thunder-Iron smell but without affecting him, so he didn't feel the need to growl more. The Human still looked at him with a Did-I-Mess-Up-And-Offend-Them air to him, that came from his own body-language and not from a Magical-Fake, and brought his Front-Leg to his Neck, then did something with his paw and pulled a Loop out.

 

He took a step back even as the Human did not hold himself aggressively. Wolf didn't like to take Chances right now, especially not with Humans.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Tony kept a close eye to the skittish wolf's ears; not his eyes, as Wolves could take eye-contact as an insult or a challenge. Anyway, Wolves' ears were way more expressive than their eyes. Seriously, he had had whole conversations with Steve where ear-movements were visibly the only way he conveyed pretty complicated concepts to him.

 

Bucky (and it had to be Bucky, one missing leg, blue eyes and dark brown fur, fear of communication magic when no other animal ever reacted badly to his translation totem,) kept a close eye on him as he crouched and gently tossed the spider totem his way so he could examine the source of the magic.

 

Tony stepped back as the wolf stalked closer to the totem with very visible defiance. He sniffed at the wooden pendant, then recoiled, before trying again, when he had visibly decided that the pendant was not too dangerous, he went back three meters and sat down, watching Tony with a curious titled-head wolf expression.

 

Without his totem to magically translate, Tony decided to take the next-best solution, and backed off a bit not to come across as threatening as he cast he magic. As added precaution, he turned so he wouldn't he using magic in the wolf's direction as he summoned Jarvis.

 

He used the ritual so often, and Jarvis liked him well-enough that it only took him ten seconds to appear before him in all his slightly transparent blue glory. The magical lynx stretched and looked around, gaze locking on Bucky for a second before finishing his check.

 

“What seems to be the problem, Sir?” He asked with this strangely accented voice that had always surprised Tony a little.

 

“Jarvis, meet Bucky, Steve's friend. He doesn't like to have his perceptions manipulated by my translation magic, so if you could be our go-between, it would be great...” Tony hadn't asked Jarvis to translate for him in years, since he had made his totem, in fact. He always thought such a mundane task was way beneath his helpful feline's notice, even if Jarvis had never voiced any actual dislike to the task.

 

With an “of course Sir”, Jarvis turned and walked up to the wolf, stopping when Bucky took a cautious step back, then starting again a couple of minutes later. It took a while, but Jarvis eventually set his paws on the translation totem and started chittering at the wolf.

 

It took what felt like an eternity to Tony, whose patience had never been that good (one could even say patience and Tony didn't belong in the same sentence), but after chatting with Jarvis for a while, the wolf finally came forth and touched his paw to the totem, before hooking the leather tongue behind his canines. When the wolf stood again, Tony heard the voiced translation of what he was saying. “I am sorry for doubting you, but Past taught me to be wary of Magic, Human-Tribe-Shaman.”

 

Tony felt once again a little overwhelmed by how much information the wolf managed to cram in the shortest sounds, but now it wasn't important, what was important was choosing his words right. “I know, Steve, Sam and Natasha told me. I won't take offense from you, though I am very offended Hydra soiled my art by the use the made of it on you.”

 

The wolf kind of flinched. “You know Steve? You must be the Shaman of these Helpful-Humans-From-The-Shield-Tribe? Steve told me...”

 

Tony was kind of flattered to hear Steve had spoken of him in good terms to his friend in the very short time they had been together, so he would pardon the slip-up of calling him a Shield member, he did liaise with them, after all. Bucky seemed kind of okay about talking of his friend, so Tony took a chance. “Yes I know him. I made things to help him. He is searching for you now, though.”

 

The wolf swayed from one side to the other. “Of course he is, Punk-Idiot-Hardheaded-Steve is too stubborn for his own good.”

 

Tony swallowed, but he still said the words, Yinsen had taught him not to shy away from hard questions, and considering he kept a part of his will and spirit in his chest to fight off the ten-rings curse, Tony owed it to his eagle friend to live by a few of his principles. “Why are you not with him? I can tell you like him.”

 

The wolf swayed again, stamping his feet, he came across as mildly ashamed “Alpha-Steve would want me to eat, I couldn't disobey my Alpha's will.”

 

Tony gave the wolf a quick once-over, and he had all the signs of an animal eating at least enough, but from Steve's story, Bucky had to eat more than just 'enough' to be in such good shape coming from the state he had been in when he ran away. “But you are eating, aren't you?”

 

The wolf snorted. “Fishes. There will not be any remaining pretty soon, Autumn is well underway.” He sat then, ears flattening. “If Steve is with me this Winter, he will hunt for me.”

 

Tony frowned, but sat too, he didn't like towering on Bucky like that. “Then why don't you let him? It will make him happy, to take care of you. There is no shame in accepting help when you need it.”

 

The wolf sighed heavily. “I Don't-Want-Can't eat meat. Bad-Humans-Hydra used to force me, to kill and eat. Now I Cant-Won't taste Mammal-Warm-Blood.”

 

Tony swallowed. A wolf couldn't live without eating meat, fish was an acceptable substitute, but if Tony didn't find a way to help him, then it was sure Bucky would not make it through the winter.

 

But Bucky wasn't finished. “Steve could force me to eat, too, he is my Alpha.” And Tony almost cried, couldn't the world let a single safe place for this tired and tormented animal, how was it that the safest place for him to be was also the worst for his mind's safety? “I don't want him to have to make this Choice. Whether he chooses to force me to eat so I live or to let me die of Hunger, he will Suffer from it, it will break him. I would rather he found my Still-Body and be spared that Choice.”

 

“He would blame himself for not saving you, not feeding you. He wouldn't know.”

 

The wolf pinned him with stare that seemed to weight a whole mountain. “You could tell him. Let him know I Liked it better that way.”

 

Tony had another deep thought about justice and hard choices, and he took his knife out. The wolf looked at it, understanding it's use. “I could do it for you, save you the long fast.”

 

And that was a smile on the wolf's muzzle. “Thank you. I may take you up on this, but later. Now there are still Fishes. And I came here to see the Dancing-Lights.”

 

Then Tony understood. The wolf didn't want to die, he just saw it as an inevitable issue to his problem. Winter would come, and he would die, but he still wanted to live. If only Tony could just find a way so Bucky was able to eat something other than meat...

 

An old legend came back to him, a legend about a man who became a bear through the spirit's interference. It had always fascinated Tony, but he had never actually tried to reproduce it, no willing subjects, no good enough reason to make the flows of magic consider this change. Now though, now was different.

 

“Say, would you want to be a human? You could come with me, eat bread and nuts and fruits and dried fishes. Humans don't need meat to survive. It would save Steve the pain of your death.”

 

Bucky stared at him, then at the sky for a very long time, enough that Jarvis got bored of standing around and came to curl up in Tony's lap demanding to be petted. When Bucky answered, Tony didn't have much hope left. “He would still lose me if I became Human, I could not be of his Pack anymore.”

 

Hard truths... Tony touched the eagle-shaped gem on his chest, and Yinsen's spirit dutifully gave him some courage. “He already lost you long ago, Bucky. He knows it, and you know it, and you would be less lost to him as a human than dead.”

 

The wolf sighed, slumping a bit. “Wolf, not Bucky. Not What-Is-Left-Of-Me-After-Hydra.”

 

Tony clenched his jaw. “Do you intend to let them steal your name too? The one your mother gave you? Will you let them win or fight to reclaim what is yours by right?” Then he caught up with his tongue, and hastily added: “but fine, I can call you something else, I can call you...”

 

“James?” Piped up Jarvis, not even stopping his content purring at Tony's petting.

 

“I could call you James, do you like it better?”

 

James growled. “I will do what I want and be called how I want, and you won't manipulate me like you do with Magic-Flows, Shaman!”

 

“Tony.” At the head-tilt, he elaborated. “Tony, it is my name, if Steve didn't tell you.”

 

Tony wouldn't have caught the grumble if the translation totem didn't always get words across crystal-clear. “Probably did, dunno, didn't listen to Punk-Steve's yapping.”

 

Tony laughed. When his serious came back, he steered the conversation back to the main point. “You don't have to decide now, the night is hours ahead, and rituals, especially new ones, are easier to do under the dancing lights. And if you haven't decided by then, I'll come again next month and ask again.”

 

James sighed. “No, there is no need, I will become Human, I want to live, I don't want Steve to be Sad, and maybe with Flat-Teeth I will stop dreaming of driving my Fangs in one or another Hydra-Sacrifices.”

 

Tony nodded and didn't answer, there was no need to. He just shifted a bit and dug a rock out from under his butt setting in for a long wait.

 

James was staring at Jarvis, or maybe at Tony's hands? It took Tony a while to interpret the longing look, and then he shifted and opened an arm in invitation. Jarvis stirred, opening an eye to look at the wolf, then sighed and hopped up on Tony's shoulders to free his lap.

 

James took a long while to creep up Tony's side and lie down, and even longer to rest his head on Tony's vacated lap.

 

That was Tony's life, now, weaving colossal magical forces this way or that, to create spells and protections and get information, traveling to the top of the spirit mountain to know what guiding totem Clint would get, and sometimes, waiting for hours until the night with one hand in a traumatized wolf's fur, and the other brushing Jarvis somewhat ethereal flank.

 

It still was way better than his life under Obadiah's 'guidance'. And James had a soft, warm fur.

 

oOOo

 

Tony woke up to yellow and red lights and to a tickle on his nose. He had somehow fallen asleep, and somehow James had become his pillow, his head cushioned on the wolf's chest while James' own head was resting on Tony's arm, Jarvis was curled up behind Tony's nape, so he had to be tucked against James underbelly.

 

It made Tony's heart swell to know that the wolf trusted them enough to fall asleep especially that close to them. Which was why he woke him up by petting his head and not by shaking him. “rise and shine, James, you new life is about to start.”

 

“T's Bucky.” The somewhat petulant, grumbly answer gave Tony the urge to ruffle Bucky up, but he had better things to do than that right now, so he very adult-like-y refrained from starting a tickle war.

 

“I have another thing to do today, do you want to go first, or do you want to wait a bit?”

 

Bucky was still nervous, so Tony asked the spirits to show him Clint's guardian spirit. He smiled down at the Hawk totem, and told Bucky it's attributes: intuition, victory, healing, nobility, recollection, cleansing, visionary power, and guardianship. A very good guardian totem, indeed. Especially for young Clint

 

Bucky asked if some Humans got a Wolf Guardian-Totem (yes, Tony totally hear him using capitals, okay!) so Tony nodded and told him what it meant too: loyalty, perseverance, success and spirit. Bucky snorted, but it didn't really sound like he was disagreeing.

 

Tony turned to the wolf. “Ready?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay, think very hard about wanting the change, it can only help.” And Tony started praying, singing, and drawing his wants with threads of orange lights. The nature spirits looked upon him kindly, like they had done since he had made Dummy, then U and Jarvis out of their inter-weaved lights.

 

The spirits had always liked him, that was why Howard had pushed him so hard to be a Shaman. Even when he was crafting his attack spells for Obadiah, the spirits had never let him down, the shinning gem in his chest was proof enough of that. So now, while he was doing something complicated and daring to save someone else's life, there was nothing but enthusiasm dancing in the magic around him. The spirits readily lending him the strength and power he needed to change Bucky's body into an human's.

 

They even came forth to help him weave his pattern, correcting a mistake here, suggesting a detail there, and soon enough, a one-armed glistening human figure was floating over Bucky. Tony gave it one last verification, then let it wrap itself around Bucky, shinning brighter like a flare. Bucky floated up, and started to morph, at one point, something fell. Something Tony realized was the attach of Bucky's wooden leg, the one Steve had brought back to him... Before he could seethe too much about that, though, the light faded out, leaving a man floating down to the ground in the wolf's place.

 

Tony was expected the lights to retreat early, after such a big drain in their powers, but they stayed, bathing Tony, Jarvis and Bucky in golds and pinks. A gray wolf appeared, and Bucky lost any semblance of control he might have had on his legs and fell to his knees, holding his hand out to touch her snout.

 

A pair of puppies sprouted out of nowhere too, running around Bucky, and Bucky called out, “Becky, Charlie, Mom.”

 

Tony spied the translation totem, fallen to the ground when Bucky's fangs had stopped being a good anchor, and slipped it around the man's neck. Bucky deserved to have an actual talk where he and his family understood each-others.

 

Tony turned around to give them some privacy, and also because the crouch Bucky was in at this moment made his bare ass stand out. No clothes, that had definitely been an oversight. And really, wolves were pretty muscular, Tony had known it before, but seeing the human equivalent of their muscles was something else entirely.

 

Tony distracted himself from Bucky by watching Dummy and U annoy Jarvis. Both purple kitties had came out of the spirit stream and were now trying to catch Jarvis' tail in their incredibly cute clumsy fashion. Tony knew there had to be something wrong with how he had made them for them not to grow up at all in all these years, but he wouldn't have it another way.

 

His attention was called back to Bucky by a small bark, Bucky then looking up at him with such a vulnerable expression that Tony's heart (or what was left of it) almost broke, his voice when he talked coming small and unsure. “Would you?”

 

Tony really hated himself for having to ask. “Would I what?”

 

Jarvis saved him from having to pry the request from Bucky, who was deflating and looking away with guilt without any reason to. “The lady wolf expressed the will to give her only living son her own left paw, since he will have more use for it in the land of the livings than she does up there in the spirit plains, Sir.”

 

Tony spared Jarvis a dubious glance, as there was no way a single bark said that much, but he still nodded. "And she needs me to help her do that because as a spirit, she has no way to create matter from scratch... Okay, let me think...”

 

Spirit magic never made anything unless they had a seed for it. Making an arm for Bucky would need skin, flesh, blood and bones. Tony took a second to remember what he had brought with him, then divested himself of his hide vest, took a dried-meat stick out of his travel pouch, then his knife. He put the meat in the middle of the hide and held his hand over it as he slashed his palm, letting a rather small quantity of blood flow down before the wound stopped bleeding on it's own. Then he looked around for a pair of rocks and crushed the bone handle of his knife out, tossing that with the rest. “There, I think we have everything for the seed...” He saw the wary way Buck was looking at his hand and at the blood on his vest. “I did that of my own accord, Bucky, don't beat yourself over it.”

 

Tony instructed Bucky to hold the folded vest over his severed arm, and placed his mother's left paw over the end of it, then he started casting the spell. It proved incredibly tricky to make two parts of dead things into a living thing, and Tony was sweating and cursing by the time the mother-wolf's leg dissolved and merged into the ingredients. Tony sighed and observed the proceeding, making sure that nothing was going sideways, but the magic had started, and now it should flow it's way naturally.

 

As he suspected, the vest lighted up and morphed on it's own, taking life, and Tony focused on making sure the new limb was correctly attached to Bucky's arm and that he would be able to control it.

 

When the light receded, Tony fell on his ass, winded. The lights folded in themselves and went away, taking Bucky's family, Jarvis and the kitties with it.

 

That was the excuse Tony decided to use to justify not understanding just why Bucky was clutching and petting his new appendage.

 

On his defense, having four limbs again totally justified the fondling on it's own.

 

When Tony finally had a good look at Bucky's left arm, he whined. “Fuck, I messed up, I can fix that...”

 

Bucky finally tore his eyes from the silver fur covering his front leg (yes, leg, Tony had forgotten to ask for the wolf leg to turn human) and smiled. “No, it's perfect.”

 

Tony eyed him dubiously for a while, but Bucky used to be a wolf himself, having a paw instead of a hand probably didn't look awful to him. And it was his mother leg, with her gray fur, of course Bucky would find it soothing. “If you say so. Mind being my pillow again? I'm too tired to move. And no need to break a leg climbing down in the dark.”

 

Bucky still took a while to come up to Tony, enough for the Shaman to consider his nakedness and decide to strip so they could share the protection of his clothes while Tony was sleeping. No sense saving Bucky of starvation only to let him die of a cold.


	2. Shifting Perceptions

Tony would blame habit, or his morning wood, but when he woke up to warm skin pressed firmly against his, a hand in the small of his back pressing him down into the nicest set of six-pack he'd ever had the luck to wake up on and a muscled shoulder serving as his pillow, his first movements were undoubtedly sexual.

 

But who could seriously blame him for nibbling at the firm muscle that was right there? Or for rubbing up a bit against the warm skin offered?

 

It was the fur brushing against his right flank and the cold air on his calves, more than Bucky' deep rumble that reminded him of the time and place.

 

Tony sprang up with a garbled “sorry”.

 

Bucky whined at the cold air and curled in himself, so Tony grabbed the clothes. He decided not to shake them in case they held some lingering warmth, and tossed the pants to Bucky. It was warmer than the top, and if he needed to walk on two legs for the first time while climbing down a mountain, having a layer of thick fur over his knees would spare him a good few scrapes.

 

On his side, Tony slipped the tunic on. Shield Clan was closer than Stark Isle from there, so this was where he and Bucky were aimed, and even if most people knew about the magic gem, Tony didn't like to show it.

 

He was suddenly very grateful he had taken his warm winter clothes under his coat, because the mountain could get chilly at night when he had set out. Sure, he had spent his climb with both his coat and his tunic tied around his waist, but there was no one to see the gem out there (except Bucky, but he was surprisingly okay with Bucky seeing it). Now he was just grateful to know neither he nor Bucky could freeze even if they were only half clothed.

 

When Tony glanced at Bucky (mostly to reassure himself that Bucky hadn't really understood how close he got from being molested in his sleep), he really included two things he had mostly known before, but hadn't really accounted for.  
First, that pants were actually pretty difficult to operate when you weren't used to them, which made the fact that Bucky had all the right parts in the right holes pretty impressive, even with the baggy travel ones whose front and back were interchangeable, and proved to the human-wolf's cleverness if there was still any need to.  
Second, even being smart as hell couldn't make tying knots with only one hand feasible, especially when you've never had hands to tie anything with before.

 

So Tony took a deep breath and slid forth, willing his dick not to get any idea. He made sure Bucky saw him as he reached for the waist-lace, as he had always done when reaching to any animal. Bucky sighed and surrendered the task of securing the pants to Tony, looking both disgruntled at his own failure and fascinated with the concept of knots.

 

Tony, for his part, did his best to be swift about it, all while still showing how it was done and avoiding touching too much skin. It was tricky to achieve. When he was done securing the pants, Tony gave his work a once-over, stopped at Bucky's bare feet and sighed again. No way he was letting him walk all the way down the mountain bare-footed, Bucky probably had no idea how tender his new feet were, and he'd be lucky not to break any toe...

 

So Tony also caught his boots and put them on Bucky, trying not to think anything inappropriate about how the man was leaning back on his arm and paw and observing the process with an interested expression that Tony really used to associate with sex, especially in this configuration.

 

He would just have to be careful of where he set his feet... Or...

 

Tony sent a quick query to the gem, that agreed the situation justified calling the suit. He dragged his belt to him and pulled the engraved iron pendant that enclosed the idea of his armor, and proceeded to pull the bottom parts out of it and link them to the gem. As the red and gold lights materialized themselves around him, Tony started to feel less cold. The magic wasn't warm, and it didn't shield him against the cold, but it prevented the air between the hard light and his skin from moving, trapping a protective layer of warm air around his legs and feet, which, in this situation, was already a lot.

 

It would also prevent him from stubbing his toes or stabbing his soles on pointy rocks. And it attracted questions from Bucky. Tony answered them evasively, as he had taken the habit, saying important bits offhandedly, making grand statements on the mildly relevant technicalities and sidestepping the most emotional parts altogether, then putting an abrupt stop to the subject by offering breakfast.

 

oOOo

 

They had better start moving soon, Shield was still a good day away, and Fury could be (even more) grumpy when he got woken at night. And he would be woken, the spell Tony made for Shield protection was designed to blare like a horn every time someone who hasn't been there for five days crossed the perimeter and light the new arrival up at night, so unless Tony still felt like hacking his own -familiar but still very well made and defended- spell when already half asleep, earlier was better.  
Especially when he wanted clothes, room and a warm meal for two without previous notice on his strange companion...

 

Yeah, better hurry.

 

Tony plopped one more piece of dried meat in his mouth (he hadn't even tried to offer those to Bucky. Maybe at one point, he would feel comfortable enough to taste cooked meat, but now was not the time to try that) and got up, extending a hand to help Bucky up, just to see him already standing on his own by imitating Tony's movements.

 

Tony smiled and tied his belt around his waist, then took a look around for marks, turned toward Shield base, and showed Bucky the proper way to walk on human feet

 

His call about pants proved to be the right one pretty fast, Bucky was admittedly very good at standing upright for someone who had only been bipedal for a few hours, but the stumbles and falls still happened, and Tony understood that:

  1. He couldn't always catch the man, falls happened when he could see it coming, but also randomly, or at little rocks Tony was so used to take into account that he hadn't seen it as a real obstacle.
  2. In the occasion where he could reach out before Bucky face-planted, it sometimes only meant that the man-wolf's considerable muscle weight also tipped Tony over.
  3. Bucky didn't like to be caught, even when Tony managed to spare him another couple of scratches, the man only shook him off and stepped away, a determined frown etched in his face, and a grumbling comment about not being an under-coordinated puppy.



 

After the second time each of these had happened, Tony resigned himself to just walking behind and keeping an eye out for drops of blood on the ground because he was pretty sure Bucky was the kind of stubborn bastard to disregard an open palm because he didn't want to look weak.

 

Bucky at least learned fast, and by midday, Tony could say he'd taken the very good habit of projecting his hands forward when he tipped over, then the even better one to use the wolf paw more than the human hand to catch himself up as it's though-hided pads were less fragile than palm and fingers.

 

Tony was pretty impressed at how fast this had taken, considering that the arm that was now attached to the wolf leg used to be burdened by a very baldy thought peg-leg that had hurt Bucky like hell for a good three years and that he must have trained himself not to use unless there was no other choice.

 

Tony had only felt contempt at the piece of wood Steve brought him back hoping that Tony could use it as a magical compass to find Bucky. In fact, he had taken a look at it's curved form, obviously made so the "foot" would point down even as wolves elbow tended to point back, and at the way there was nothing to absorb impacts, and he hadn't needed any magic to inform Steve this thing would never lead him to Bucky. This thing, Tony knew even before he saw the joint part this very morning, could only hurt like hell, so Bucky wouldn't like it at all... As evidenced by it's mangled state, and so, magic cast on it would not find any lingering magical taste of the wolf who used to wear it. (Tony had tossed the thing in the fire and muttered a curse that had made the fire flare. Steve had growled at the loss of evidence, but Tony didn't care.)

 

They ate lunch by a stream, Tony giving the last of his bread and fruits to Bucky and dedicating himself to the hard and lengthy task of chewing dried meat. He didn't have any more food, and told Bucky as much. He was not really surprised to see the former wolf glance at the water speculatively, but Tony redirected his determination toward reaching Shield as soon as possible.

 

oOOo

 

Tony was considering stopping for the night so Bucky wouldn't need to master the ability to walk in an environment his eyes couldn't see well (and really, how annoying must that be? From what Tony gathered, wolves had better senses than humans in every aspect, Bucky must be feeling half crippled with the weak ears, almost useless nose and mostly diurnal sight... Maybe Tony could tweak the spell some...), when they came across one of Shield's forest tracks.

 

When Bucky crouched down, pawing at the track and trying (but failing) to sniff inconspicuously, head tilted, Tony had to shove hard at the part of him that was cooing at the cuteness of the behavior and ogling at Bucky's shoulders (he was only wearing a tunic and magical light armor, a hard-on would be painfully obvious) and crouched too, explaining where he thought they were and how far they would have to walk still. Bucky listened quietly, looking at Tony fixedly, mouth slightly agape, then nodded and said a short “let's go”, standing and looking around.

 

Tony pointed the right way, and stood too, repeating to himself again why it would be a very bad idea to point out that they were alone in the woods and could have some fun while no one was around.

 

Tony had always found animals more endearing than humans, that was true, but they were still animals, and he found them cute, but it was the kind of cute most humans tended to label kids as. Now that he was faced with a grown man with all the qualities and mannerisms he loved most in his beast friends, the cuteness had taken a more sexually charged meaning

 

But Tony was a responsible Shaman (or he was at least responsible about the Shaman part) and he had offered his help to someone, he still needed to stay with Bucky at least long enough to help him adapt to his new body and see if there were any mistakes in his form (which Tony doubted, but still). He would just suppress the sexual attraction until Bucky was all set.

 

He could always proposition Bucky later, when he didn't need Tony as his guide. Tony didn't like the idea of forced relations at all, and as long as Bucky needed him as a crutch, Tony could not make a move on him, least giving him the impression that he had to respond favorably in order to keep Tony's help.

 

So he stood up too and followed Bucky, who was now prowling down the track, a little tense. Tony caught up to him and proceeded to list the cultural differences between a pack and a clan or a tribe. He told him all he could think of about things to do and not to do, but at the slightly panicked look that crossed Bucky's face, still reassured him that no one would resent him if he missed something, and even if they did, no one would dare to bother a friend of Tony's anyway. Shield had no grown-up Shaman of their own, they needed him to make and repair their protective spells and teach their own kid Shamans the way of spirits.  
(Young Leo and Jemma would be astounding Shamans when they grew up, they had the same innate sense of the spirit laws as Tony had, and they would probably gain their affection too, if they continued being such nice souls... But it made him feel so old, being with them and their youthful enthusiasm and questions...)

 

Bucky frowned a little. “And you just abuse these privileges all the time?”

 

It was the first time he'd engaged in small talk since they set out this morning, so he tried not to shut it down too fast, it was a subject he was comfortable with anyway. “Only when I'm there. And most of the time, if I'm there it means they need me to do something for them anyway. When I'm home, I don't mess with the chief, but at Shield? Guys need to be messed with on a regular basis, remind them Shamans are precious and hard to replace and they should make sure theirs stay with them. Jemma and Leo are sweet kids, they should be pampered as the treasure they are. And the nastier I get when they need to rely on me, the more comparative value they gain.”

 

“So you're mean on purpose for the Pups?” His tone conveyed thinly-veiled doubt pretty well.

 

Tony whirled around to face Bucky. “First, I am not mean, just arrogant extravagant and disobedient, which ticks Fury quite a bit, but is still very different. Second, I also do it so I'm sure he only calls upon me when there really is a need. I'm not some kind of servant to him, I'm a Shaman, damn it. And arrogance and self-worth is something the kids sorely need to learn, see they have pretty different specialties, but non-initiates won't know. Mostly, they would think they have a spare, that as long as their clan has two Shamans, they can be a little less cautious about them.  
That if they lose one, the other one can still do the work of a Shaman for the clan, and that is not okay, and I'm doing my best so the heads don't get these kind of stupid ideas, but what can protect them best? Is that they make this stand themselves.

 

So I give them homework, I give them exercises, I explain the flows of magic and take them with me to the spirit mountain in spring, I show them the rituals and let them do the maintenance for their clan's protective spells, and I do my damn best to let them see how precious they are, to show them how much I can get away with so they know they could too if they wanted. So they know that they can dig their heels in on something they don't like and the chief WILL have to bend... So they don't get sacrificed because they were too obedient like the last generation of Shield Shaman did.”

 

Bucky blinked, Tony did too, cheeks heating up bit at his own rant. “You like them.”

 

It wasn't a question, and Tony felt the stupid pull to deny and defend himself against the accusation, but Bucky seemingly had a super-power to make Tony honest (or maybe it was the fact that he was relying on him and Tony wanted to be trustworthy) so he just sighed. “Yeah, I do, they're cute, and brilliant. I swear they will change the world one day, just you watch. I just have to make sure that they have all the knowledge they will need and that they live long enough for that...”

 

Bucky was staring at him as if he was the most fascinating enigma under the sky, which was flattering, except it made Tony feel kind of naked... well, more so than before, anyway. “And you knew the Dead-Shaman-of-Shield-Clan-From-Before, too.”

 

Once again with the affirmations. Tony gazed at Bucky's face, wondering if he could just spill it all, but his throat closed up, so he just croaked a strangled “yeah” out, and turned back front, effectively shutting down the conversation.

 

He reflected on how cathartic it could be, to tell someone other than Fury how his own father had been too busy to teach him the way of magic, to spill how it had been old Erskine of Shield that had helped him when he was stuck, or how after the old Shaman's death he'd been summarily sent away to learn his art in another Clan while there still was a perfectly capable Shaman in his own tribe in his own father.  
Or how Howard's death had left him so empty of grief that he'd climbed up the spirit mountain on his own for the second time to ask what kind of monster he was. He had climbed back down exhausted with a second purple kitty and the whispered assurance that there was a debt of love that Howard still needed to pay in order to let Tony finally mourn his death.

 

But this was dangerous. This meant Tony would make himself vulnerable, would make himself weak in front of the person he had to be strong to protect.

 

And he also knew it would lead him to spill everything about Yinsen and his spirit gem, on how the spirit trapped in Tony's chest had poisoned him while saving his life, until Howard's spirit had appeared as a ghost to help him craft another crystal out of different materials and filter most of Yinsen's soul out to only keep his will to see Tony survive trapped in the new talisman. (Jarvis, Dummy and You had hissed at Howard every time he'd seen his manifestation, and Tony actually felt pretty good about that. His babies had good taste.)

 

And that was something Tony hadn't told anyone yet. It was something Tony shouldn't feel the need to tell someone he'd barely met when even Pepper had only had a partial report.

 

He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on his fright at how close Bucky felt already, because he soon picked up the familiar taste of his own magic, tangled with tendrils of Shield kid Shamans' own power threads, and pulled on his diva mindset to threaten and negotiate his ways with Fury.

 

Bucky was all hunched on himself, human arm clutched over his stomach, and it made something fierce and protective stir in Tony's heart, something that would bowl a lot more over than the clan chief of Shield to make sure his newest protegee didn't lack in anything ever again.

 

oOOo

 

Fury was, as usual, stingy, feigning to deny Tony's request. Of course, since Tony was the only Shaman around, they both knew he had to bow over, but this charade always came back, Fury asking more than Tony would do, then threatening to let Tony down on something to make him comply, a long argument, at the end of which they both agreed to the things they had already been planning to deliver on right from the start.

 

Tony knew why Fury forced Tony to play this little game every time, it was to make Tony look like a cheap selfish ass who wouldn't do anything for Shield without bargaining for hours and forcing Shield's poor chief to comply to his 'extravagant' (but actually very reasonable) terms.

 

And Tony had been chief of Stark Isle for a while, he knew why it was better not to let your people like someone from another clan more than you, and so he had let Fury play him for years (while corrupting Shield's own Shamans as a retribution), but this time Fury was crossing a line, and Tony couldn't let it slip.

 

He crossed his arms, and waited silently until Fury was done complaining on how his own clan needed clothes and food for winter too, and this was not Tony's playground, he couldn't just order them around, if he wanted things he had to earn them...

 

Tony didn't let Fury long enough to cite what kind of spell he demanded in exchange, he discretely wove a charm to make himself glow and crackle with magic (which was not necessary, but theatrics were important on their own right) and amplify his voice. “So what you are saying is that you are willing to let my poor friend die and cold and hunger if I don't agree to craft you a spell? What happened to the basic hospitality all Clans abide by?” Around them, whispers started going around, Tony set his face in his best frown and plowed on. “I think you lost track of your priorities, and I recommend you give us basic hospitality before I can think too much on how irresponsible of me it would be to let Leo and Jemma at the mercy of someone who believe food denial is an acceptable mean to getting a spell crafted for his clan.”

 

Around them, the whispers were growing in intensity. Fury stood, indignant. “I would never do that!”

 

Tony didn't open his mouth, he just raised his brows, glanced at his own bare legs and feet (he had removed the armor before entering the perimeter), then turned his head to peek at Bucky, then fixated his eyes back on the Shield chief.

 

Fury sighed and waved him away with a single hand with a comment on Tony making his life complicated, but everyone knew he had just lost.

 

Coulson stepped out of the circle of onlookers to direct Tony to the Shaman hut that he usually shared with the kids when he came over at Shield, and excused himself, milling with the clans-people, likely arranging for their meal and clothes to be ready shortly.

 

oOOo

 

After they had devoured the fish soup Coulson had brought and took possession of the set of slightly tattered hunting clothes that one of the elderly hadn't thought in good enough shape to gift to his son yet, Tony showed Bucky to his bed, on the opposite side of the hut from the kid's (Tony had seen them hastily gather the things they had put there when he got in, he hadn't mentioned it because it was frankly very harmless of them to use his bed as a table when he wasn't there) and with a curtain to have some privacy at night (or to protect him from the light when he had stayed up until dawn crafting a spell and needed his sleep NOW).

 

He was wondering if he should just sleep on the floor when Bucky yanked him in too and hugged him close, tucking his nose at the back of Tony's neck and falling asleep almost immediately.

 

Tony blinked a couple of time before he remembered that Bucky was a wolf, and probably used to sleep in some kind of a wolf-pile when he was still in a pack. And he had just spent three years alone in a cage in Hydra's clutches, he was probably touch starved.

 

Tony sighed and squirmed a bit, earning himself a sleepy growl as he did, but he just found a comfortable position and dozed off, if his serving as a plushie helped Bucky, then Tony was glad to do it.

 

As his mind started to lighten itself, Tony linked the hunching with the way he had waken this morning and the way Bucky was hugging tight against his stomach, his own hand splayed on Tony's midsection, with the fact that Buck was used to being a wolf and to instinctively protect his soft underbelly. Tony fell asleep trying to find a way to help him overcome that need.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Now-Human-Bucky woke up to the Now-Very-Unusual sense of Total-Comfort, of Warm-Dry-Not-Hungry-No-Pain-Well-Rested-Safe-Smelling-Company.

 

For a while, he wondered if being Human had messed up the Stories his Dreams could come up with And made him live the times back in the Howlies instead of running dreams. He had dreamt something really strange on the previous night, after all.

 

But no, that Safe-Smell was Nice-Helping-Human-Shaman-Tony's Wood-Smoke-Fur-Iron-Thunder-Smell. Human-Shaman-Tony had never been a part of the Howling-Pack.

 

What was even more surprising and (relatively) new (as in it hadn't happened since before the Fall), was the Warm-Aching-Need in his Lower-Belly, and Bucky felt pretty pole-axed for a while, before remembering that they were now in a Human-Clan, so maybe one of the Female-Human-Of-Shield was in Heat and he had smelled it? But how could he smell a Human-Female outside when his Human-Nose could barely smell Tony from a pace away? And now that he could feel the way his new Genitals worked, he could tell that it was what had happened with Strange-Human-Tony on the previous morning, and there definitely wasn't any Female-Humans around at the time.

 

Clearly, Rut was something that didn't work the same way as a Human compared to Wolves, but Bucky should have expected it, seeing how bad Human-Nose was. He just hadn't been in a situation where that kind of musing was warranted for so long that it hadn't even occurred to him to wonder how Humans knew their mates were fertile.

 

Tony could probably explain this to him, but Bucky also remembered how Tony had apologized on the previous day for rubbing on him, so maybe he should let go of him right now, he didn't want to offend him.

 

Tony roused as soon as Bucky scooted away from him, blinking owlishly, and curling up to make up for the Lost-Warmth-In-His-Back that Bucky had provided for the whole night. “Hey Bucky,” Sleepy-Tony yawned “slept well? Need to go out and pee now?”

 

“...Yeah.” He bit his lip and glanced down, wondering now if what the Customs were on that front, he didn't want to put Markings on the Territory of People-Who-Had-Been-Somewhat-Nice-To-Him when he was Tony's Guest on their Territory.

 

Shaman-Tony propped himself on both Elbows and twisted around until he was facing Bucky, He frowned lightly, then answered Bucky's Unasked-Question (it was in these times when the Shaman figured him out so totally that Bucky felt the more in Danger yet utterly Safe at the same time). “For just peeing, you can just walk into the nearest thicket, but near Clan villages like these, you have to dig a hole for the big commission and cover up afterward or it would get very smelly very fast. I'll show you how to use a shovel later.”

 

Tony stretched and swung himself out of the Human-Nest-Bed, and was starting to pull the Human-Fabric-Light-Separation when Bucky finally got the nerve to call him with a small sounding “hum, Tony?”

 

The Human-Shaman turned to listen, and saw the Bulge in Bucky's False-Fur-Leg-Cover on his own, understanding without Bucky having to ask once again. “Oh, right. That's totally normal, it'll go on it's own in a moment. Or you can just...” Human-Tony did a move with his Hands that Bucky didn't understand, making Him Frown and tilt his Head in confusion. “Right, you didn't have hands, well, take a second to contemplate how awesome it is to have front limbs that reach all the way to your groin and with witch you can make a tight circle, I'll make breakfast while you experiment, okay. Just try not to make a mess of the sleeping furs, they're not that easy to wash.” And then he pulled the Separation, got through and pulled it closed again.

 

oOOo

 

As it turned out, Tony was right, Human-Hands were a lot more fun than rutting on a Moss-Covered-Rock, it made Bucky wonder how much more fun This would be with two Human-Hands.

 

It did manage not to dirty the Sleep-Furs, but his Chest-Cover did end up with a Pretty-Large-Stain.

 

Tony had a pause when he saw Him, before he extended a Flat-Human-Utensil-Containing-Human-Food at Him and said he should have given Bucky a “rag” whatever that was. Clearly there were Rules-Tricks-Things-To-Know about Sexual-Relief-As-A-Human, and Bucky suggested that next time Tony Show him. Which probably wasn't the Answer Tony expected, because he turned Red and seemed to choke.

 

Bucky worried until he saw that the Puppies were Snorting at them. They wouldn't laugh if Tony was in Danger., Bucky still apologized, he had probably messed up there.

 

“No, it's... Huh, it's just, do you... You know what, we'll talk about this again when there aren't too smart kids around.” Usually-A-Lot-More-Articulate-Tony said before turning his Back to Bucky to rummage in a Human-Storing-Chest.

 

oOOo

 

Tony guided him to the River, showed him how to wash “Clothes”, and how to use the “Shovel” to dig Holes, which seemed stupid to Bucky until he tried to claw the soil with his Human-Paw, and he understood the need for an Accessory. But he still had one Wolf-Paw, so he didn't need a Human-Tool-Shovel for Holes.

 

Tony didn't bring up the Helping-With-Sex-Subject again, so Bucky decided that Tony had the same definition for 'We'll talk about this later' as Wolf-Friend-Steve, which is in fact 'okay, no, I don't want to talk about that, let's never bring it up again.'

 

Bucky-From-Before-Hydra used to wheedle Friend-Alpha-Steve about that, because he needed to learn to actually say no to his Friends when he wanted to say no, but He didn't know how New-Friend-Tony would react to that. He didn't want Nice-Helpful-Tony to be angry with him, so he dropped the subject, just a little bereft of losing that Chance-To-Learn-About-Living-As-Human.

 

oOOo

 

Bucky mostly forgot about all that when he got to witness Young-Human-Boy-Clint's adulthood ritual, where Tony gave him his Hawk-Totem-Pendant, and then he listened to Tony explain Magical-Solution-Finding to the two Human-Puppies-Kids-Future-Shield-Clan-Shaman and how he had made Wolf-Bucky transform into Human-Bucky, then how he had Helped Bucky's-Mother-Winifred Give Bucky her Left-Leg.

 

Then When the Shaman-Kids seemed to get really Exited with Everything-Tony-Had-Done, he suggested that they tried to Craft-Weave-Chant a Magic-Spell to modify the Human-Transformation enough so that Bucky got his Wolf-senses again as an exercise.

 

Bucky almost refused, he wasn't all that eager to be Magicked at, even if Last-Time had gone well and Tony was safe. But the Shaman-Kids were so excited that he agreed, which he was grateful for when the Sun set, as the Charm got applied to Him and he felt like Plugs had just been removed from his Ears and Nose, letting him feel the World as he was used to.

 

That Night, he went to Sleep with Tony curled up on him, and for the first time in a really long time, he thought that he would be able to really live and be Happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually did some researches (no, in fact there was a radio documentary on the subject one day I was working, but same difference) on wolves, and most of what I wrote at least tried to be accurate to reality (like the facts that male wolves have nothing against homosexuality in the cases where a mated female is in heat and turns everyone on, but only mate with her boyfriend...)
> 
> And that's the [website I've been taking the animal meanings from](http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-totems.html)


	3. Making It Count

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have been sitting on this chapter since November because I didn't feel up to editting it, my sincerest excuses, I'll try to finish this in the best delays!

Wolf-Bucky was running, as fast as the Hurting-Wood-Leg let him. Which was not fast enough. The Hydra-Hunters were gaining on Him.

 

The ground was too soft and his Paws didn't catch.

 

He slipped along.

 

Not fast enough.

 

And The Evil-Hydra-Humans didn't slip. They ran. Faster than him. He wouldn't escape now.

 

Bucky dug his Good-Front-Paw in the Too-Soft-Ground, and his behind lost adherence, going head-to-tail.

 

He didn't growl, didn't bristle, didn't try to intimidate them into leaving him alone.

 

He just braced his Hind-Paws as well as he could in the Mud and lunged for the throat of the closest Hydra-Human, clawing at it's chest with his Good-Paw.

 

The Evil-Human hiccuped and tried to shove Him off, but Bucky held fast, tightening his Jaw even more.

 

The Human slackened, and Bucky readied himself to jump on the next one, but the Hydra-Human wasn't dead, still muttering in Human-Language.

 

Bucky's muscles contracted, preparing to rip the Hydra-Human's throat off, but then the Human started to glow, morphing into a Wolf, and he finally understood that he had been calling “Bucky”.

 

Bucky jumped backward, noticing that he wasn't in a Morass anymore and could move just fine again.

 

The Other-Wolf coughed and rolled on one side, But not before Bucky spotted the Eagle-Shaped-Shining-Stone on his Chest.

 

The Wolf-That-Actually-Smelled-A-Lot-Like-Human-Tony grumbled something Bucky didn't catch, and the Marshlands faded away, just as Wolf-Tony and Wolf-Bucky turned Human.

 

And Human-Tony was levering Himself up with his Human-Arms. Calling Bucky's name and tentatively reaching for him, but all Bucky could see was the Angry-Red-Circle-Mark on the right side of Human-Packmate-Tony's neck, and four Pink-Tracks on his Left-Shoulder where the Thankfully-Soft-Human-Claws-Nails had scraped on him.

 

Bucky was suddenly very thankful that his Bad-Dream had made him think he still had the Hydra-Hurting-Wood-Leg, he didn't want to think of what shape Tony would be in if he had used his Mom's Leg to claw at his Dream-Enemy too.

 

Human-Shaman-Tony spoke again, but what he was saying wasn't making any sense, why would he be the one to apologize after Bucky attacked him, in his sleep, no less, and in Tony's own den?

 

“Sorry, I'm sorry, Bucky, I know you don't like magic, especially not directed at you...” Magic? Bucky sniffed, and was almost floored by the strength of Tony's Smoke-Wood-Thunder-Metal-Magic-Scent after a couple of days with a Human-Weak-Nose, his Wolf-Senses were a lot more overwhelming. “I just, I panicked, okay, I didn't want to manipulate you, just the image in your dreams, I swear I couldn't, and wouldn't, use this to make you do anything you don't want to do, you know, I just wanted to take you out of this nightmare, Bucky? Bucky? I'm sorry, really, don't... don't run away, please, I'm sorry!”

 

Bucky froze from where he was inching away. Tony wanted him to stay, and Bucky could at least comply to Tony's wants, after trying to off him, he owed him at least a proper apology. Just as this train of thoughts emerged, Bucky remembered growling at Tony on the Spirit-Mountain for the Translation-Magic, and the bizarre apologies suddenly made more sense. Now he didn't really mind Tony's Magic anymore, not after the Good it had done him, not with how familiar he had become with it's Smell, even before Tony and the Shaman-Kids gave him his Nose back.

 

“It's okay, Tony, I... like your Magic, thank you, for... For not letting me kill you? For taking me out of this Place, too. I injured you... Sorry.”

 

Tony's Hand flew to his neck. “Oh, that, don't worry, I've had worse, there was a lot more fright than actual harm. Bucky... Stay, it's okay, it was not your fault, I'm not angry at you...”

 

“But” Bucky floundered for a reason to go, and found. “What if it happens again, what if I really hurt you? I'm Dangerous, I can't stay there, endangering you, even in Sleep-Rest.”

 

Tony frowned, thinking, and then smiled, and did another one of his light displays, twisting a few tendrils of his magic in the form of a kitten, then Call-Chanting out a name. “Dummy”, as the Magical-Purple-Kitty seemed to be christened, filled in his Energy-Birthing-Structure and jumped out onto Tony's Lap, mewing in a manner that managed to be questioning and joyful at the same time.

 

Tony very seriously scooped up Small-Purple-Kitten-Dummy into his cupped hands and told the Small-Thing that his mission was to protect Wolf-Human-Bucky from the Bad-Thoughts and Bad-Dreams. The Magic-Kitty nodded very seriously, then jump-flied to the top of Bucky's head, where it stood with only three legs while making Angry-Hissing-Sounds.

 

Bucky looked at Tony, startled and disbelieving, ant Tony just smiled “Dummy and U can actually ward negative feelings and thoughts off, and only a small portion of that is due to their cute, fluffy, tiny exterior appearance. It is passive magic, though, it's part of their very nature, they would be unable to use that particular gift for anything but positive manipulation, and even then, it's more pulling the good thoughts forward than inhibiting the bad ones. Put plainly, what he'll do is more accurately described with 'bringing good dreams' than 'chasing bad dreams'.” Tony paused, looked at Bucky “I'm not very clear, am I? … Let's put it that way... how do you feel?”

 

Bucky blinked, thinking. “Better. … But still sorry for almost killing you.” Bucky snatched the Kitten from it's perch and cradled it in his Arm-And-Leg. Dummy squirmed , but settled down as Bucky stroked his ethereal fur. The Little-Cat weighed almost nothing, and didn't really feel like it was there, yet as it started purring, Bucky felt the same type of joy as he used to get when babying the pups back with the Howlies. “How does he do that?”

 

Tony shrugged. “Not really sure, I think it has to do with how I was grieving for the death of loved ones when crafting them. I think they decided it was their role in life to cheer me up and it became a part of what they are, and since they are made of magic energy, their want translate into acts, even without formal Shaman training.”

 

Tony scooted back up in the Bed and lifted a corner of the Fur-Sleeping-Cover in a clear indication of his wish to see Bucky take up the vacated space. Bucky worried a bit, but the envy at the prospect of having Tony close enough to Touch again was stronger, and he went in, squinting at Tony's Sad-Face.

 

“You know, sometimes I wonder if that's why they didn't grow up, if they refuse to become adult just so they can stay tiny and cute and cheer me up when I feel down...” Tony's hand darted forward, joining Bucky's on the Small-Thing's upturned Belly. And a Sunny-Smile replaced the Worried-Frown.

 

Bucky wondered just how much this Tiny-Magical-Kitty-Dummy was manipulating them, but the thought wasn't all that alarmed, it felt like the action a Full-Moon with his Pack-Mates had felt, not constraining or demanding, just... Uplifting, like Racing at Full-Speed just because you could. Tony ruffled the Purple-Fur on purpose, making it all Messy and prompting Dummy to bat and bite at the Offending-Hand.

 

“And then,” Tony added, Voice full of Mirth, “I realize that it could as well be a shrewd and calculated move on their part to ensure I am unable to feel any lasting anger at them despite their awful behavior because they are too cute and their eyes are too huge and they make that innocent, wide-eyed face at me and I just let go of any grief I had against them.” As if to demonstrate Tony's point, Dummy stopped mid chew, and looked up at Bucky. He was indeed very good at projecting innocence, because even with Tony's Hand still between his Teeth, Bucky had trouble even considering the fact that this Cute-Baby-Cat could actually be hurting Tony with his attacks.

 

“That... Might be his Hunting-Tactic.” Bucky delicately deposited Dummy-Kitty between Him and Tony, and the niggling Worry became stronger. He slowly reached his Human-Hand to Tony's Neck, touching the Bite-Mark, then tracing the Red-Clawing-Trails.

 

 

“It's okay, really, it doesn't even hurt anymore.” Tony smiled, Eyelids curving with it, and Bucky wanted to believe him. He also wanted to brush his Human-Fingers in the crease beneath Tony's eyes and bury his nose into the fold of Tony's Neck to smell his distinct Friendly-Safe-Perfume. But He didn't know if he could, so instead he slid back down the bed and pulled Dummy against his chest, letting the positive influence tell him again how warm and safe he was, how the Fur-Sleeping-Protection covering him was warm and fluffy. And the soft feel of the bed underneath him, and Tony was there, with his Clean-Shaman-Magic to protect himself from Bucky, and Dummy was purring, lulling him with the Repetitive-Sound.

 

Tony slid down too, his hand drifting up to pet Dummy between them. And just that, The way Tony was willing to sleep near Bucky so soon after Bucky hurt him made warmth bloom in his chest.

 

 

Almost automatically, Bucky's Human-Hand went to his Mom's Leg, brushing the Short-Thick-Silver-Fur, then down to the Dry-Finger-Pads and Worn-Not-So-Sharp-But-Hard-Claws. He ducked his head into his furry shoulder, marveling at the traces of his mother's scent emanating from the hairs, reminding him that his Wolf-Family was somewhere in the Spirit-World, supporting him.

 

Tony had given that to him, The chance to see his family, The Beloved-Leg in place of Hydra's Awfully-Torture-Instrument, the chance live through the winter, to sleep safely, to learn what it means to be an Human. He was going to do better, He could do and be anything.

 

His Human-Hand came up to his Human-Face, eyes and mouth and cheeks, and the more leathery skin on the underside of his nose and contouring his eyes, that were yet another gift, Tony hadn't only bent the laws of nature to his will to make Bucky human, he'd also given him parts of the Wolf that he used to be, Bucky was like born anew, but still Himself, still all the Good-Things from his previous life, and the chance to wipe all the Bad-Things away in this New-Human-Life.

 

Tony grumbled at his moving around and swung his Hand weakly at Bucky's Human-Arm. Following some kind of instinct, Bucky grabbed into the Limb and squeezed a little. “Thank you.” Tony opened his right eye, squinting around a glare and grumped an order to 'just go the fuck to sleep'.

 

Bucky Smiled and closed his eyes, letting himself slide into Warm-Sleepiness, hand still tangled with Tony's just brushing Dummy's Fluffy-Ethereal-Furry-Back.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Tony was woken twice by Dummy's hissing and pawing at Bucky's frowning face to chase nightmares away. Both times, Bucky woke without a hitch, looked at Dummy and Tony, smiled, and went back to sleep burying his face into Dummy's furry belly, Dummy finally decided to just sleep on Bucky's face and be done with it.

 

Tony kind of wondered how Bucky would react to waking up with a face-full of cat fur, but he used to be a furry animal himself, and slept with a wolf's pack, so it might just be a nostalgic touch-memory and not a problem at all.

 

Tony still maneuvered Dummy so he was lying on Buck's eyes and forehead, and not in his mouth and nose to smother him in his sleep.

 

oOOo

 

The third time Tony woke up, it was to sunshine and Dummy dancing near his face anxiously. A meek mew and a tired flop to the side told Tony what the problem was, so he dismissed the tiny feline with a promise that he would call U up to take up the Bucky-protecting duty while Dummy replenished his energy reserves in his immaterial form. Dummy chirped and dissipated into thin air, leaving Tony's line of sight free to see an open-eyed Bucky looking back at him

 

“Energy?” Well, at least it was to the point...

 

“Yeah, they're self-thinking and feeling beings, they create their own psychic energy, but the lack of a flesh body makes materialization more draining than they can sustain durably. Dummy will go be himself in the spirit realms and come back better tonight. I can also give them some of my energy in a pinch, but it makes them hyperactive, and it's too early to have a ball of fluff running around into the furniture and attacking random hanging bits, Jarvis is a different thing, his thinking is more evolved, he makes more psychic energy. Also his hyperactivity doesn't result into a ruckus when I feed him, he is more adult, let's say.”

 

Bucky nodded. “So, when do you call U?”

 

Tony gave it a thought, observing the man next to him. “After breakfast, so he can help you cope with the world outside while I confer with Furry and Shield's security council?”

 

Bucky nodded his Okay, and sat up, then he gave a double take, staring at the bruises Tony knew he was sporting (it was starting to get old, the self flagellating. Yes, Pepper would totally call him an hypocrite if she heard him say that, but she wasn't there, and he wasn't saying it, so it wasn't important), but he didn't say sorry again, instead he said “What do we say to the kids?”

 

Tony blinked. “Nothing”

 

“But, won't they worry?” The expression on Bucky's face said that he thought they should worry anyway, but he still didn't want their life made harder.

 

And really, Tony would have to explain a few things to Bucky, but he preferred to do it without juvenile ears possibly overhearing every single word he said. So he just smirked, “They will jump to the conclusions they prefer, and those are not the ones you're thinking of.”

 

Bucky frowned. “How else would they...”

 

“Oh, no, they'll know you did it, sure, but it won't worry them... I'll explain later, just, don't get too surprised if they spend the whole day snickering.”

 

And there was the frown again, and Bucky looking upset, so Tony leaned in, and whispered: “You're missing cultural reference to know what they'll think, and I'll fill you in, but they're here in the hut too, and they may be wide awake on the other side of the curtain, so if you don't want to needlessly worry them just play along with me, smile, look alive and I'll take you somewhere else to talk about it, okay?”

 

Blessedly, Bucky gave in without a fight.

 

The kids were sleeping in, and Tony went to fetch some breakfast, leaving a slightly distressed Bucky to the task of shaking his young wards awake.

 

oOOo

 

He came back to the surreal sight of Leo teaching Bucky to braid Jemma's hair, and couldn't help himself from making a somewhat dramatic entrance, declaring That this was a very good initiative and that he looked forward to getting Bucky to do his hair too.

 

As he'd expected, everyone turned to him, and the kids gaped at him broke into snickers and whispers. They used their 'secret language' for this impromptu gossip session, which meant Tony understood their every word (they were just saying them backward -gniyas ti drawkcab-, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out, he just hadn't told them he saw through it, both to avoid useless humiliation and also to prevent them switching to a more drastic way to secrecy that meant Tony couldn't know if they had really dangerous secret plans and stop it) but it went right over Bucky's head, though Tony suspected that wouldn't last.

 

All in all; he was pretty impressed at how knowledgeable they already were on adult matters, his suspicions on their source were Clint, Clint or Skye, maybe Jane, their other Shaman tutor that was teetered to the Culver Camp Unit, but he somewhat doubted she'd have told them terms like 'kinky sex play', it really wasn't her style, though it was her helper's. Tony liked Darcy's style, but Jane had threatened him with physical harm if he tried to poach her...

 

Anyway, the kids made the link with Bucky's sort of proposition and totally thought they were lovers, which was as well, they would blame any weird nightly noise on sex.

 

Not that Tony wanted to keep them in the dark about potential danger, he would have been the first to tell them to be cautious if he thought Bucky was a danger to them, but he wasn't, Tony had seen bits of Bucky's dream while altering it, and he saw that Bucky's first reaction to danger was to flee and he only attacked when cornered, the kids were perfectly safe around him, no matter what he himself thought, if they startled him, Bucky would jump back, not bite, and they definitely wouldn't try to wake him up now that they thought Tony and Bucky were intimate, so the only one in danger was Tony himself, and he had the means to take an informed decision about that.

 

oOOo

 

The kids were awfully predictable, and Tony would be despairing about that if it didn't play in his favor, so instead, he just sighed ans took a put-upon sort of face at their snickering and whispering and shook his head when they made up a badly engineered reason to flee. He got up, stacked the breakfast crockery and dragged Bucky out of the hut and into the forest, pretending not to notice the two blond haired heads not totally hidden behind the wood pile, turned left and right and left again, and finally sat Bucky on the side of a stream, putting up a simple privacy alarm ward and braced himself for an incredibly awkward conversation.

 

Bucky was looking a bit lost, a lot curious and just slightly worried... Probably because of how sneaky Tony was being, so Tony felt the need to justify his paranoia to ease the man-wolf's fear. “They're stubborn and too smart for their age, and curious like any kid their age, and we don't need them overhearing us.”

 

Bucky nodded, still looking lost, and a little suspicious. “Won't they think something is off, after we hid like that?”

 

“It plays right into our game, now, can I at least assume that you know how babies are made?”

 

Bucky looked insulted at the very question, but answered anyway. Tony had to set him right on the heat thing and explain human female reproductive system, but that was not quite as awkward as it could have been, and prompted a series of questions that really helped Tony fill his charge in on the finner aspects of being human without feeling like he was giving a teenager the spring and babies talk (and Tony would know, he had had to do that in one memorable occasion and still resented the hell out of that... Which meant he was kind of grateful someone else had already filled that job in Leo and Jemma's case).

 

So, once babies were out of the way and the facts about sexual arousal dealt with, It left the topic of homosexuality to explain. Tony had really expected it to take more than two minutes, but Bucky took it in a stride and even told Tony things he hadn't known about the amorous life of wolves.

 

Similarly, the concept of leaving marks on your lover got met with a grave nod and a comment on how Bucky had been wondering how mates marked each other in regards of humans' feeble sense of smell.

 

Of course, the more awkward was to explain how the “show me how it is done” comment sounded like an invitation to have sex, and Bucky was be up to date on the assumption Jemma and Leo were working under.

 

And of course, Bucky's first reaction was to ask Tony if he really was alright with people thinking they had sex together.

 

Tony answered as truthfully as he could, with how he wasn't dating anyone so it wasn't hurting anything, and actually liking men and women, and also how he didn't think it was anyone's business but his and his partner's who he had sex with and how, and so he didn't care one bit about what others thought. He also added that as things stood right now, it was more practical to let the assumption stand, with the kids, sure but also with Shield.

 

It occurred to him to ask if Bucky was alright wit that too, after all, maybe he had a cute Shield girl in his sights (and it wasn't Tony's right to dislike that very thought, Bucky owed him absolutely nothing, especially not love!) but Bucky shrugged and dismissed the issue as non-important.

 

Tony should not have felt relief for that, but, oh, okay, maybe he didn't want to share his cute new person yet, also, if Bucky wanted to stay there with Shield, Tony wouldn't be able to continue to check on him in ten days when he had to come back home to help Pepper organize the meeting with the Force of the Air Base emissaries... (but Rhodey was in the delegation, so he wasn't complaining about that one.

 

Anyway, he was already almost late for his strategical meeting with the council, so he took Bucky back to the Shaman hut and foisted him and U on the children while asking them to keep each other out of trouble.

 

If he was lucky, there would be a Shaman hut to come back to.

 

oOOo

 

As he had been kind of expecting, his charges (even the adult one) were up to no good when he finally got out of this nightmare Shield liked to submit him to each time he visited. But the hut was still standing and there was even a plate with edible lunch set out for him, so he wisely decided not to ask where the fish came from, or why they were all drenched. (He had a feeling these were linked somehow. Well, fishing was an useful survival tool for the kids to have)

 

Later in this afternoon, he would be asked to get Coulson out of the trap Clint had “accidentally” pushed him in. He very carefully didn't ask the kids why the rope that he'd had to free the Shield councilman from looked so much like the one Bucky had declared they'd lost while fishing. Plausible dependability was a concept he'd learned years ago.

 

Tony might have given the kids some sweetened fruits that night, but no one could ever prove that it had any link with Tony's childish joy at seeing the annoying Agent dangling upside-down from a tree.

 

oOOo

 

As days went, Bucky got more comfortable in his skin and with other humans. Tony still made sure he was always escorted by one of his magical feline or another. The small balls of fluff really had ways to make everything happier, even Shield's clan, and Tony was now used to seeing Shield's clans people move something out of the way of an over hyped kitten's path with a smile, or even an honest chuckle.

 

Bucky had unsurprisingly (for Tony, at least) taken to mothering the pair of shaman children, and as happy as Tony was to see him happy and productively busy (mostly with mischief, but Tony very much supported this, even if he was cautious never to be potentially linked back to any of their pranks), he dreaded the moment when they had to leave.

 

It always cost him to go back home leaving them behind, even knowing that Jane and Darcy, or even Erik, would soon be there to teach them the other aspects of magic, or that Coulson would see to their safety and comfort while Tony wasn't there. He always felt like he was abandoning them.

 

oOOo

 

Gossip had taken hold of his and Bucky's fictional relationship, and Bucky had taken to acting as if it was real. Probably mainly for his own comfort and to be able to steal Tony over faster.

 

And each time the former wolf would sidle up his side, smile to whoever was talking to the shaman, and slip an arm around his waist to whisper a question on humans ways or ask him to come and help him with something, Tony would be simultaneously very glad and despairing at this piece of lie.

 

Bucky still slept in Tony's bed, and there had been some awkward mornings, but Tony was glad to be routinely sharing his sleep with someone. Plus Bucky was running pretty warm, which didn't fail to help Tony go to sleep (funny how something as inconsequential as having to warm the furs made Tony loathe to go to sleep at all starting from mid-autumn and until spring).

 

oOOo

 

The curling into himself thing still happened, and Tony decided to ask Maria to teach Bucky more about defending himself in this new human body.

 

Bucky didn't seem particularly eager to fight, but he put on his stubborn face and agreed to it (the subtext that Tony heard underneath was that he wanted to be able to fight in case Hydra came to hurt Tony, or the kids, or to take him back)

 

It was always a little strange, with his black-circled eyes and the wolf-muzzle-like nose and mouth (his nose and mouth had the shape of human ones, but the color was definitely that of Bucky's wolf form), he didn't quite look human at any give time, but when he gathered his determination it was on a whole other scale. Emotion always seemed to flee his features completely, leaving behind the impressive focus and the stubborn will of a wild animal intent on doing whatever it took to survive

 

 

Maria stared him down fixedly when Tony asked her to teach hand-to-hand combat to his would-be lover.

 

Tony offered to work on that long-distance communicating spell that she kept bringing up in councils, but that kept getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do-list, and she wrinkled her nose frowning, but still barked that she would only train him if he came along to her regular classes with Shield defense force.

 

Tony left satisfied. There was no way that once she'd started to teach Bucky how to fight, she didn't take it as a personal honor thing to drill everything she knew into his skull.

 

Tony had done his work. Now the ball was in Bucky's hands (well, hand).

 

oOOo

 

As Tony had been expecting (he knew how good a learner his wolf ward was), Maria was totally enamored with Bucky's learning capacity by the time Tony gave her the promised set of communicating pendants.

 

Bucky had also overcame much of his reserves and was improving at a pace that filled almost all of the Shield warriors with admiration.

 

In fact, Bucky's quiet enthusiasm and how visibly he looked forward to training even pushed the kids to ask Maria if they could learn self-defense too.

 

 

Tony had mixed feelings about that particular development. On one side, it was good to know they wouldn't be helpless, on the other... He kind of feared that thinking that they could protect themselves, they'd recklessly get themselves into danger far worse than they'd do without any such illusion.

 

When Tony had quietly shared these worries with Bucky one night, Bucky had asked if Tony really thought they wouldn't be exactly as reckless without defensive knowledge as they would be with it. At least, knowing how to fight, they had more chance to get out unscattered from a situation that could kill them if they didn't have fighting knowledge.

 

That night, Bucky held Tony as he agonized over the dangers he knew his young wards may very well run into.

 

In the morning, Bucky took Tony by the hand and went to search Shield's most accomplished warrior, Melinda, to ask her to be the shaman kids' fighting teacher. The woman grumbled that she had retired from front lines fighting, but by coincidence or by a planning Tony didn't know of, Coulson passed by with the kids about then and at Bucky's request joined his voice to the request, and Melinda folded.

 

Coulson congratulated them on their (Bucky's) planning, and smiled that Melinda would probably take the kids' safety as one of her duties now. It was a very powerful protector they had placed the kids in the hands of.

 

oOOo

 

Once everything was said and done, Tony was pretty sure he was more anxious about going back home than Bucky was.

 

There was, of course, always the niggling worry that Bucky would ask to stay here with Shield, and really, it was none of Tony's business, if Bucky wanted to be there with the kids and Maria's sparring sessions, Tony had absolutely nothing to say about his decisions, the only question there would be to ask was if Furry accepted him as a new member to his Clan.

 

It would even be good for the kids to have Bucky stay with them. They could use a mostly adult presence around them on a more permanent basis. But on the other hand, Tony wasn't sure of how well Bucky would do without the mental crutch of Tony's kitties, and without Tony, who conveniently understood a lot more about his background than any other Shield Clansmen, and who had magic to help, and who totally understood and didn't judge Bucky when he failed to understand what baseline humans took as a self-evident knowledge.

 

And Okay, Tony might have spent an inordinate amount of time agonizing over what choice his friend would make when came the moment for Tony to depart again. If he'd asked the kids or Bucky he would probably have known, as evidenced by the way the two adorable little brats gave Bucky a backpack on the day of Tony's depart and wished the two of them good sex until they came again.

 

Tony refuser to admit that he was embarrassed at getting such a send-off. There was nothing to be embarrassed about anyway since there (sadly) wasn't any actual sex happening.

 

Bucky looked a little surprised, and a little teary-eyed at the backpack, especially when the kids declared they'd sewed it themselves “specitaly” for him. Tony had to admit that it was moving. If he had been the one receiving that particular gift, he might have cried (he already went pretty misty eyed a few years back when it'd been his turn and they'd given him a crooked wooden beaded necklace)

 

After tentatively bugging Maria to come with them and finish Bucky's initiation and the predictable rebuke that followed, They set off.

 

Tony did not cry at the kid's goodbyes, the road was just dusty.

 


End file.
